


Back to the Beginning

by Nina22783



Category: Football RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-06
Updated: 2015-03-10
Packaged: 2018-03-06 10:22:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3131045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nina22783/pseuds/Nina22783
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Following a huge fall-out. Leo works hard to retrace his steps back to Kun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Kun”, Leo whispered softly, well aware that he was calling far too late – both for himself and his friend. He could hear Antonella snore softly in bed behind him as he quietly slipped out of the room shutting the door behind him. 

“What is it? It’s late Leo,” Kun was abrupt and his tone told Leo he was still not fully over their last fight. Their last encounter had been one of the rare occasions where Leo was solely to blame for the entire fiasco that had meant two months of Kun stubbornly avoiding him. 

“Are you seriously still not going to talk to me?! Kun, come on. I said I was sorry a million times and you can’t just cut me out like this…you haven’t even been taking my calls! What the fuck,” Leo rushed out, exasperated and frankly beside himself with the nagging worry that he might have pushed out the one person in the world who knew him. Who he needed. Who he could fight with.

“Oh, I’m sorry. As I recall, you felt I was crowding you. I was too clingy. I was obsessed with you. I’m just trying to keep my distance, like you asked. Turns out it isn’t all that hard,” Kun bit out angrily. Leo felt a cold fear take hold of him at Kun’s words. The venom in his tone was something he was completely unfamiliar with. And the parting shot hit right home, making his breath catch in his throat and tears sting the back of his eyes. 

“Kun, you know I didn’t mean any of it. I was angry and I get that I hurt you but are you seriously not going to talk to me at all. That’s not fair,” Leo pleaded quietly, at the end of his patience. 

“Fair?! Are we seriously talking about fair now? Tell me something, is it true?” Kun asked quietly, his tone cold and deep. 

“Is what true?” Leo asked, already smirking at what might have had Kun especially riled up. It meant Kun hadn’t been completely oblivious to him or his actions, no matter how much he may have pretended otherwise. It wasn’t much but even the tiniest ray of hope was something Leo was willing to jump at, given the situation.

“Don’t play dumb. You’re already all over the news. You followed Chelsea on Instagram and I know you’re not stupid enough to not know what that would mean. So is it true?” Kun bit out, teeth clenched in anticipation of his answer. 

“What do you think?” Leo asked quietly, grinning, tone flippant.

Everyone had already assumed and applied a thousand meanings to Leo’s silly little experimental click on Instagram. Every meaning but the right one. He had been thinking about leaving for a while now but his heart always struggled with the final tethering. Leaving Barca meant starting fresh and he had never known what that would mean. Spain had turned sour for him, the club had run itself into the ground and Leo was tired of carrying it on his back and still failing. He hated losing and no matter how hard he tried, he knew that this wasn’t a winning team anymore. It certainly didn’t help that their rivals seemed to be soaring high at the same time they were struggling for mere survival in the league. 

A couple of months ago, Kun had declared in an interview that he would persuade Leo to join him at Manchester City and even though the idea was still forming in the latter’s mind, he had immediately followed the club on social media eagerly awaiting the moment when Kun would call him and ask him to cross the channel and play at his side, like they had done as teenagers. Like they did at Albiceleste. It would have also meant that Kun had forgiven him for that stupid fight and finally called but Kun never even picked up the phone. The emptiness of that hanging gesture stung Leo. When Kun collapsed on the pitch both Leo and Anto had sprung into action booking a flight to Manchester and calling him to check up on him. He took Anto’s call but barely said two words to Leo. Only mumbling that he was okay. Leo had been beside himself with worry calling Kun’s father for constant updates for over a week and consistently being hung up on every evening when he called his friend. Then when he broke his La Liga record and the congratulations messages came pouring in he kept checking for a message from Kun, a missed call…anything. But there was radio silence. 

It began to hurt more with each empty occasion. Leo and Kun had never gone more than a few days without talking to each other since they were teenagers and he suddenly felt as if he had pushed him away irrevocably. Leo’s overwhelming guilt didn’t help matters either. He knew his words had been harsh and he hadn’t meant them at all. It was just that after Kun’s book had come out everyone had started teasing Leo about his not-so-secret ‘boyfriend’. The fact was that - if anything - it was Leo, who had always been in love with Kun but too terrified to give in to any of it. So he had buried the impulse deep within himself somewhere years ago. Kun was an intensely physical person, without even an ounce hubris and completely naïve, no matter how famous he got. He openly hugged and kissed Leo and all his close friends and it was just something everyone accepted about Kun. Leo had been with both men and women but not Kun, and yet Kun was the one people always assumed was gay. Ironically it never affected him, he laughed it off and cracked jokes about himself and people loved him all the more for his utter lack of guile. Leo, on the other hand, was under constant fear of the media finding out and having yet another thing to hang him with. All his latent insecurities were stirred up again when the book came out, not so much because Kun changed but because Leo felt exposed. People openly talking about him and Kun and it made him extremely uncomfortable primarily because he knew there was some truth to it all, at least, where he was concerned. 

When they had met for the International friendlies, Kun had been just as he had always been. Smiling and lighting up the world around him. Joking around and showing Leo his city and all the while Leo had been cowering under the weight of everyone’s secretive smirks in their direction. He had been plagued by internet memes under the Kunessi hashtag and it was all simply too uncomfortable. It all came to loggerheads when Zaba made a casual joke about Leo coming over to MC because in any case, his ‘first wife’ was already here. Kun and Angel burst out laughing and Kun even cracked a joke saying “Yes Darling, it’s about time you took care of me properly,” followed by a kiss on his cheek, but Leo just snapped. Dragging Kun into the hallway and yelling at him to stop being so childish; that he might not care about his own reputation but that Leo was under constant pressure and Kun just made it worse …throughout his tirade Kun’s face had gone from jovial to puzzled and from puzzled to broken until it settled on fury. Leo had gone overboard, accusing Kun of being obsessed with him. And couldn’t he just fucking find his own life and stop trying to leech off Leo’s fame…he had said terrible things. And Kun had listened. Silently.

And then Kun had walked off. Leo had waited nervously, armed with apologies and platitudes in their hotel room that evening but Kun never came in. He assumed that it would take a while and expected to see him the next day, no matter how badly they fought Kun always came back. Kun was the only person Leo could openly fight with sans subtext or innuendo. He was the only one Leo always knew would still be there no matter what. And yet he didn’t return. Leo didn’t sleep the whole night, his eyes constantly glued to the empty bed beside his own. He finally called Mache in his room after 1am the next morning, asking him where ‘the hell Kun had gone off to’ and that he still hadn’t come in. Mache had been surprised, telling Leo that Kun had finally availed that single room like everyone else. Leo was shell-shocked and seething. He had barged into Kun’s room in the middle of the night demanding he come back to their room only to find it empty. The next day, Kun sat next to Zaba on the bus and Leo was too stubborn to approach him. They both refused to talk to each other for the rest of the fixture. 

When Barcelona drew Manchester City in the Champions League in December, Leo sent Kun a teasing public message on facebook hoping he would respond just to keep up appearances but he still didn’t. Leo simply didn’t know what to do any longer and this was his last desperate attempt. The only way he knew to pull Kun in when he shut people out was to rile him. He knew it, because it was the only thing that worked on him, too. Kun had been the first person to make him realise that nearly a decade ago. 

He followed Chelsea on Instagram and waited for the one outraged response that didn’t come. And so, he had decided to call Kun himself and force it out of him. This was as close as he was about to get. 

“I think, you’re finally beginning to enjoy all the attention. Funny thing, the Leo I knew hated stirring the celebrity pot but it appears I was wrong. Other than that, I couldn’t care less who you follow on Instagram or where you play football Leo. You told me to leave you alone. I did. Make up your damn mind about what you want,” Kun ground the words out as if they physically hurt him and promptly hung up. 

On the other side of the line, Leo sat listening to a blank dial tone.  
Stunned. Terrified.  
Seething…


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a series of flashbacks detailing Leo and Kun's friendship. (All the flashbacks are in italics)

Leo found himself fiddling with the dials of the dinky little television in front of his seat on the plane after that disastrous phone call. It had been a few hours since he found himself booking a flight, leaving a note for Antonella telling her he was headed to Manchester for his three remaining days off, following a half-assed explanation of sorts and boarded the plane to Kun.

He couldn’t concentrate on the movie playing on the screen or anything else for that matter. His head still befuddled by Kun’s words. His dismissal had just seemed so, so final. And it had scared the life out of Leo. He has never really imagined a life without Kun, ever since he met him and it took him less than a minute to realise that he couldn’t chance that Kun would return to him on his own. Kun had told him to make up his ‘damned mind’ about what he wanted – well, Leo had always known what he wanted. It had always been a smiling, laughing, gorgeous Argentine-idiot of a Kun, who could blaze glory on a pitch and off of it without ever needing any of the credit.

Leo admitted to himself that he had always loved how Kun saw him, without any kind of envy, pure admiration and adoration. He had fed off the feeling that Kun’s praise had fuelled in him for years. Knowing full well, that barring his injury issues, Kun was every bit the baller he was, occasionally even better. It was what had brought them together instantly. How they had both mapped the pitch onto their minds; how they could pass perfectly to each other without even needing to look up. How they could speak without words, even though Kun always ended up using enough words for the both of them.

When they were teenagers, Leo had been so awkward, barely even able to muster up a single word or two in conversation. Painfully shy and terrified of how people viewed him. Gerry and Cesc had quickly adapted to his silences and become his social shields at La Masia. They never tried to understand why or if he could be nudged out of his silence, they simply talked around him and let him listen and whisper into their ears what he wanted for lunch at the line. He had never needed to really talk beyond monosyllables because everyone had just accepted that this was the way he was. Leo had always avoided confrontation, he could tune out of situations at will. It had proved to be his greatest gift on the pitch but Kun was the first person to call him out on all of it. It was why he depended on Kun the way he did. Kun was the only honest, untainted thing in his world…. except for his son, of course. Everyone else, even his family, needed something from him. Needed him to be something. It was always impossible for Leo to figure out which.

He clearly remembered the moment he knew they would always be friends.

_It was a few weeks after he met Kun for the first time, the latter completely unaware of who he was and not impressed by the rumours until they trained on the pitch a week later. Then, he had walked straight up to Leo, clamped a hand on his shoulder and said “Holy shit boludo, You’re like a dancer”. Leo remembered blushing fifteen shades of purple and mumbling a quiet ‘Thanks’, as Kun kept smiling at him. That legendary smile that lit up his entire face, wide and open and sort of overwhelming to look at. “You really don’t say much do you? Well, I’ll make up for the talking until we get you straightened out,” he had laughed._

_They had been assigned the same room and Leo remembered his face buried in a comic book, as Kun barged in to their room jumping on to his bed and demanding they make plans to sneak in some games or something for after lights out. Leo just nodded. For every one of Kun’s million-a-minute questions, he answered with a monosyllable. Overwhelmed by the other’s ease and persistence. Kun had not been deterred though, after two days of observing that Leo’s lacklustre responses to his attempts at friendship stemmed from awkwardness rather than disinterest, Kun did what no one else had ever tried with Leo. He set out to actively piss him off into talking to him. He would annoy Leo with all the small things he knew irritated the pale-Pulga. He’d leave wet towels on the bathroom floor; lounge around on Leo’s bed; invade his personal space; ruffle his hair; ask ridiculously personal questions like how many times Leo jerked off and whether he had a girlfriend back in Catalonia who was also mute like he was. By the end of two days, Leo was visibly ticked off but still silent as ever._

_He’d ball up his fists, breathe heavily and bury his head back into a book but still didn’t respond. Then Kun pulled out the big guns, he’d noticed that the only thing that genuinely horrified the little genius was when people called him arrogant. So every time Kun’s questions were met with silence at Leo’s end he’d respond with “Oh, I get it. Lionel Messi is just oh-so great, can’t be bothered to talk to little ol’ Kun. After all, why should such a genius bother himself with the rest of us rabble.” He would watch Leo’s ears turn a bright red, until finally he saw him jump off the bed and push Kun into the bathroom door. “How fucking dare you?! Why don’t you just get lost and leave me alone?” Leo’s eyes had teared up in sheer rage and frustration and he had been beside himself, hands trembling as he pushed at Kun again and again._

_At that moment, Kun found himself raising his hands in defence and feeling incredibly guilty and awful at how worked up Leo had gotten from his teasing. Clearly the boy didn’t want any friends and as disappointed as Kun was at the prospect, he knew when to stop pushing it. “Fine, I’ll get out of your way,” he had said petulantly. “Great” Leo clipped and returned to his bed, flopping face down onto the mattress to hide his tears._

_Kun slipped out and stayed with Lavezzi that night. He decided not to tell the coach and besides Lavezzi had the only single assignment and a spare bed in his room. When Leo woke up the next morning, he turned over to see what time Kun had crawled back into bed only to find the bed spotless. Leo immediately got out of bed and checked the bathroom. A quick inspection told him that sometime during the night, Kun had come in and collected his duffel bag. Leaving Leo alone. Leo’s stomach sank and a familiar hollow feeling engulfed him for a moment at the overwhelming, unprecedented silence in the room. The feeling was quickly replaced by false bravado though - an impulse that assured him that he preferred to be alone anyway. Especially, when the alternative was an irritating, intrusive, ridiculously inquisitive roommate constantly trying to rile him._

_Over the next two days, Leo worked hard to control his temper. Technically speaking, he had no excuse to be angry anymore. Kun had been utterly oblivious to his presence laughing easily with Gonzalo and Lavezzi during lunch and training. Making friends left, right and centre as easy as breathing for him. Barely even glancing his way, unless asked to pair up on the pitch. Even then Kun barely said a word to Leo. It was annoying as fuck. And it took Leo a total of 31 hours to recognise that he missed Kun’s annoying questions, his playful poking and prodding and his overly touchy-feely presence. He missed having someone who sat next to him at lunch and on the bus and talked to him like he had something to say, even when he didn’t. Hell, he even missed the challenge of wondering what Kun would do to annoy him next. It had taken that one outburst from Leo to go from having Kun constantly at his side to completely out of his life. And it was driving him crazy._

_The third day, after Kun had moved out, Leo found himself reading the same sentence in his book for the eleventh time before he snapped. All of a sudden, the burst of rage he was experiencing had him walking to Lavezzi’s room, he banged on the door loudly until the door opened to showcase a perplexed looking Kun. “What the hell?” he asked looking at Leo. “You’d better come back this minute or I’m going to tell coach you bunked out on our room assignment,” Leo spat out at Kun angrily. “Why on earth would you do that? You wanted me to shut up and leave. I get it. I’m sorry I was bugging you, I just wanted you to talk to me but I get that you don’t. I did this for you. I thought you’d be more comfortable,” Kun gave his confused defence. “Well, don’t do me any favours,” Leo bit back. “You’re fucking weird, man. I don’t ge-“ Kun was in the middle of mouthing out, when Leo cut him off “Are you coming or should I tell coach?” Kun sighed and picked up his duffel bag following Leo to their room._

_Having gotten him back in their room, Leo had no idea how to proceed from there. He had counted on Kun filling the silence but the latter seemed completely fed up with him and didn’t say a single word to Leo while brushing his teeth and slipping into his bed looking for the remote control to the TV. A few minutes of silence ticked by as Kun switched channels trying to decide on one._

_“Once a week, sometimes twice,” Leo whispered, his throat seemed scratchy like he was using it for the first time._

_“What on earth are you on about?” Kun looked his way, irritated._

_Leo didn’t look up from his magazine and whispered again “That’s how often I jerk off.”_

_It took Kun a few seconds to process before he found himself grinning from ear to ear at Leo’s response. Before Leo could analyse the words that had slipped out of his mouth, Kun had hopped on to his bed, taken the magazine out of his hands and thrown it to the floor. Leo was blushing a deep crimson as Kun ruffled his hair and said “Dude, that’s pathetic. Doctors orders stipulate at least once a day.” Leo laughed._

_They spent that night laying side by side, under the covers, exchanging stories and secrets all night. Leo never roomed with or sat with anyone else on the bus or during lunch since._

 

 

A woman’s voice on the airline microphone announced their arrival in Manchester and broke Leo out of his reverie. As the plane landed and he made arrangements at the VIP lounge to hire a car to take him to Etihad Stadium Leo kept running over moments of their friendship. While on his way to the stadium, he tried picturing when everything had changed for him, when it had all gotten so much deeper…so much messier.

He knew the exact moment that Kun went from being his best friend to the love of his life. It was a deeply personal, quiet moment. He had recognised it for what it was too, but he had recognised just as strongly that it needed to be buried deep down where he couldn’t find it and where that realisation wouldn’t conceivably ruin both their lives and careers.

_They had won the Olympics gold medal and Leo and Kun were driving a go-cart around the stadium, wrapped in Albiceleste, their flag on their shoulders their smiles so big they could have split their faces in two. It had been one of the most beautiful moments of his life. They had barely walked a couple of steps that day without their arms around each other. And there was this moment when Leo had looked over at Kun, while he’d been laughing and waving at the crowd. And he had known that this was as good as it would ever get, that he would never be that happy with anyone ever again. He had found himself gazing at Kun’s nut brown skin, his funky, gelled hair and his utterly beautiful face and he knew without a doubt that he had wanted to kiss him. Funnily enough, Kun had turned to him that very moment and pulled him close kissing him on the cheek in full view of all the cameras instead._

 

Over the years, they had spoken about everything, their failures, their fears, their fathers and their families. They had talked about the pressure and there had been moments in between where he had thought that Kun knew how he felt, that perhaps Kun had felt the same sometimes. But neither had acted on it and yet they still managed to stave off any discomfort or awkwardness. Leo would always find himself sneaking into Kun’s bed at night when they shared a room, moulding himself to Kun’s back for warmth and shivering to sleep. Kun always said that Leo had this weird ‘fish skin’, and Leo did always feel ridiculously cold. It was why he wore sweatshirts at least three sizes too big for him, so he could layer up underneath. Kun had never minded, if anything, he had sometimes even hugged him closer. Leo had savoured all those moments and let them collect into a weird sort of memory collage to keep him comfortable in the fact that their friendship was intangible.

The urgency of his feelings had mellowed over the years. He still had Kun - they had each other, in their own, weird, wonky, way. It was enough. And then Kun got married and divorced and had Benji. Leo found Anto…again, and Thiago came into his life. He managed to carve out space for everyone in his heart. Compartmentalising quite effectively.

_It had all come to a head during the World Cup. First it had been Kun’s injury and Leo knew that Kun was awake and aware as he quietly ran his hands down Kun’s shin late each night to check if the swelling had gone down at all. When it hadn’t, Leo would sigh and just hug Kun tighter in his sleep. Neither of them ever said anything. It was the final that broke everything, for all of them. Leo had returned down the tunnel frozen, broken, numb. Thiago had run to him and hugged him and suddenly he couldn’t hold his tears in and the entire team clamoured to him as he started shuddering, wracked by the weight of his sobs and the one loss he couldn’t seem to take back. It had scared his son a little and Anto, but he remembered hearing Kun hug her and Thiago and shush them comfortingly._

_“Don’t worry, I’ve got him. He’ll be okay. I’ll make sure he’s okay,” he had said._

_And even though Leo wasn’t looking he believed a part of it. Kun had dragged Leo into their room, he was still delirious and shaking. His hands clutched around that accursed golden ball that Kun wrenched away and threw onto the floor. Leo didn’t even remember all of it, the state he was in. But he remembered Kun stripping his kit off his trembling form, making soothing, cooing noises all the while. He remembered Kun running the shower and pushing him into it and he remembered him stepping in himself, just as naked as he was and bathing him like he was no older than Thiago. He remembered trembling silently, half in shock and half in resonance of the fact that Kun’s hands were running down his body lathering every inch of him, washing him down. Shampooing his hair and then towelling him off and stretching his t-shirt over his head, while he still seemed a million miles away._

_He remembered Kun saying throughout “I’m right here boludo. It’s okay. We’re going to be okay. I promise. Leo, look at me.” Leo seemed to slip in and out of a dream but he remembered Kun pushing him into bed and then curling around him, with the lights off. He remembered sobbing into Kun’s chest and he remembered kisses. Uncountable, overwhelming, glorious kisses. He didn’t know who had started it but they had both found themselves drowning in them, kissing every part of the other they could find. Anything to avoid talking or thinking. It hadn’t gone beyond that but it had been enough to reawaken all the feelings Leo had buried for so long. The next morning both of them pretended nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Kun helped Leo tie his tie and whispered ‘You are still the best player in the world, you hear me. We will do this again. And we will win. I promise.’_

 

Everything came back and he didn’t know how to pretend around Kun anymore. And then he had gone and pushed him further than ever. Now it was time to find out where they stood. 

 

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *So Cesc does not come off looking good in this chapter but it works for the plot and I certainly ship Kunessi, so...  
> Here you go. Hope you like it.   
> As always kudos are most appreciated.

Kun had just received yet another text from Leo but was still trying to ignore it when Angel called him on his cell.

 _“Hey man. What’s up?”_ Kun asked.

 _“Have you called him back yet?”_ Angel retorted.

Kun scoffed and was about to launch into a tirade about how Leo had been a jerk over the years when Angel followed up with _“Listen, I’m parked outside the Etihad gate. We’re heading to a hotel, Leo is here right now and when you weren’t picking up he called me. You are going to speak to each other whether or not you like it,”_ Angel huffed in annoyance, for once using his lesser known, authoritative and what-Kun-liked-to-call ‘tall person voice’.

 _“You can’t force me. Besides we have nothing to say to each other,”_ Kun whined.

If he was honest, he had missed the little idiot more than he could say. Everything that had happened to him recently made him want to call Leo and joke about it but he resisted every impulse. He had never gone over a day without speaking to Leo or Anto and the distance had been grating on his nerves. But every time he thought about calling he remembered Leo’s angry flushed face as he tore into Kun that day. Throwing back years of his devotion and…who was he kidding, **love** , in his face as if all he had been was an annoying thorn in Leo’s side. Nothing had ever hurt more than that feeling.

He found himself walking towards the player entrance where Angel was waiting in his black Mercedes. _“I’m glad you decided to come to your senses, he’s at the Marriott,”_ Angel said with a smile.

 _“I’m just going because you badgered me. I have no intention of speaking to that asshole,”_ Kun ground out angrily, lower lip jutting out.

 _“Oh please, everyone on the planet…or at least everyone at Albiceste knows you are in love with that ‘asshole’,”_ Angel said calmly and Kun practically choked on his own tongue in surprise. _“What the fuck?! How dare you…I nev-“_ Kun started sputtering out.

 _“Spare me. And he loves you too. No one that has ever seen you together can doubt it Kun, it’s like you two speak your own language that no one understands. You are literally the only person that can make Leo laugh and take himself less seriously. The only times I see him finally look like he isn’t carrying the weight of the world around his shoulders is when he’s with you,”_ Angel said tenderly.

Kun felt suffocated under the weight of the realization that his secret wasn’t so… _well_ , secret. _“It’s not like that you know. I mean, you’re right…I love him. I’ve always loved him but we aren’t together or anything. There’s Anto and most of all, Leo doesn’t see me that way. You and I both heard that I’m apparently an annoyance and so my so-called ‘feelings’ don’t really count here,”_ Kun sighed.

 _“Oh please! You and I both know he was embarrassed and enraged and being silly. Yes he was a jerk but you’ve more than equaled him in your stupidity since. Just hug him and make up,”_ Angel turned into the Marriott parking lot slowly and parked the car. Kun found himself dreading every step as they walked towards the gardens. Suddenly out of his peripheral vision he spotted Angel stopping slightly, after glancing at his text.

 _“What, he bailed?”_ Kun asked sarcastically.

Angel just raised an eyebrow and said _“No, it’s just that Cesc is here. Apparently he was around and came to see Leo here. I haven’t told him we’re here…we could wait or just barge in. What do you want to do?”_ Angel asked Kun. _“Why the fuck are you asking me? I don’t want to be here in the first place and I can’t stand that guy,”_ he said. Angel smirked in response, knowingly but in half-agreement. They both moved towards the garden when they spotted Leo and Cesc standing on a raised platform balcony…arguing.

Both Kun and Angel backed away a little and stood around the corner… not wanting to intrude but too curious to turn around. _“How come you didn’t tell me you were in England? You always call me and why on earth would you come to this shithole. Come on, let’s head back to London,”_ Cesc announced haughtily.

 _“Cesc, I didn’t tell you because I wasn’t going to London and I’m only here for a couple of days at most before training starts so I didn’t see the point,”_ Leo answered in exasperation.

 _“But what made you suddenly decide to come to Manchester? Oh shit, you’re not signing with them or anything are you?”_ Cesc hounded him. _“Ofcourse not! If you must know…I’m here to see Kun. We had a fight a few months back and it was my fault and he hasn’t been talking to me. I need to make it right?”_ Leo said in a rush, staring at his feet throughout and scuffing his sneakers on the grass.

Kun was all too familiar with the gesture and as he focused on his face, he felt his heart constrict in his chest. He really had missed the pale little shit.

 _“Why?”_ Cesc asked snarkily.

“ _I just told you, we fought and it was my fault and I…,”_ Leo launched into another nervous, run-on sentence of platitudes, when Cesc cut in with _“No, why do you need to make it right?”_ Leo just stared at Cesc incredulously, mouth open.

 _“I mean, don’t get me wrong, the guy's a decent striker but certainly not up to mark where you’re concerned. Also, I mean…he’s just so…classless. Know what I mean?”_ the Chelsea player continued.

Kun felt as if all the blood running through his veins had turned to ice. He felt frozen in place. He couldn’t listen to this. He just couldn’t. Every word had taken him right back to when he was 13 years old playing in torn shirts and cutting meals in half so they would last him till dinner. It was like no matter how hard he tried, for some people, he would never climb his way out of that damned pit of vipers. Classless...the word still stung. He found himself turning around and stomping back to the car.

Angel running after him.

 _“Kun…I, I’m so sorry. Listen that asshole doesn’t count for shit and Leo won’t listen to a word of this. We came to speak to Leo, let’s do that,”_ he said with his hand curling around Kun’s arm.

 _"You sure about that? That asshole is one of Leo’s best friends and I haven’t spoken to Leo in months. I just…look, I want to get back home,”_ Kun said quietly. Something about the tone in his voice made Angel just nod and drive them back.

                                                                                                      ~

 

……. Leo couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

 _“Classless?”_ he repeated softly.

His entire body felt like it was on fire. A deep flush rose from the pit of his stomach and spread out right to the roots of his scalp.

 _“Yeah, I mean the guy comes from nothing. And I get that many of you Argentine’s are the same way but come on Leo you’re no longer really one of them. You’ve lived at Nou Camp most of your life. You don’t need to bother with that trash. Aguero still acts like he’s excited to have a bloody roof over his head. Constantly smiling like a lunatic at every damned little thing…it’s just”_ Cesc was ranting and barely noticed the fist that flew straight into his nose.

Leo was a little surprised at himself and damn his hand hurt like a bitch.

He cleared his head and saw his former-friend kneeling to the ground, hands clutched around his face.

 _“WHAT THE FUCK, LEO,”_ Cesc raged.

 _“What the fuck, yourself! How DARE you say anything about Kun? Kun is my best friend and more than that he’s a hundred times the footballer you are…maybe that’s what gets to you, right? That some slum kid from ‘nothing Argentina’ can wipe the floor with your ass. Kun smiles because he’s just pure. Nothing taints him…We fought because I was the one who wasn’t brave enough to deal with that. He never changes. You’re lucky I just broke your nose. We won’t be seeing each other again Cesc,”_ Leo glanced his way one more time and just turned his back and walked to the hotel lobby.

He was still raging and it was late in the evening. He checked his phone and there were still no messages from Kun. Finally, having had enough, Leo asked for a car at the hotel lobby and paid the rent agreement. He headed straight for Kun’s house, temper still bristling from his latest encounter. As he parked outside the house he could hear loud music playing inside and what seemed to be three or four voices. He rung the bell and the door was soon answered by a slightly tipsy looking Kun.

Leo took a moment to take the sight in. Kun had a bottle of beer in one hand, he was wearing black shorts and a green t-shirt, his hair was ruffled out of place and longer than usual, and he had his 1000 megawatt smile flashing.

 _“Oh, hey. I thought you were the pizza guy,”_ he said softly as the smile quickly dissipated. Leo couldn’t control the conflicting impulses flooding through him in that moment. On the one hand he wanted to hug him and on the other he wanted to push him for not bothering to even text him back. He was in the midst of contemplating the choice when a very drunk David Silva emerged behind Kun and wrapped his arms around _**his**_ Kun’s waist planting a sloppy, wet kiss at the back of his neck. _“Hey hombre, is the pizza here already…oh…shit…Leo. It’s you, here?”_ he stuttered.

Kun, damn him, did nothing. He didn’t stop Silva - he didn’t smile at Leo. All he did was raise his eyebrows slightly at Leo as if to say ‘your move, boludo’. Well two could play at this game. Leo casually glanced past Kun to see Angel and Zaba staring at the direction of the door curious to see how this would play out.

 _“Yes David, Hi. I’m here because I hadn’t seen my boyfriend in a while and well…I just wanted to do this,”_ Leo pushed past the door, over the threshold and jostled Kun against the corridor wall, kissing him with all the anger, frustration and repressed love he had been carrying around for over a decade. Kun had no real idea of what was happening but he heard rather than saw Silva, Zaba and Angel quickly gather their things and mutter a soft goodnight as they shut the door behind them leaving him alone with Leo still clutching at his chest and nibbling on his jaw.

 

Leo was now nipping at his lower lip and for the life of him, he couldn’t remember why he was supposed to be angry at the man in front of him. Their bodies were practically glued together as Leo continued to ravage his mouth, his hands clutched in Kun’s hair and his erection pressing hotly against Kun’s shorts. Somewhere along the line Kun had turned them around and now had Leo half way up the wall, the blaugrana's strong legs clutching around his waist as Kun licked and nibbled his way along Leo’s neck and ear. They were writhing against each other like schoolboys until Kun had to step back a little just to stop for air.

He glanced up at Leo, his back supported against the wall, legs squeezing Kun's waist and hands clutching his shoulders. His flushed pink face was pressed against Kun’s neck and then against his forehead.

 _“Well that was unexpected,”_ Kun attempted to crack a joke.

Leo was in no mood for jokes and rather dryly replied “ _Was it? I think it’s been a long, like really long… like 15-years-in-the-making–long time coming.”_ Kun smiled, teeth flashing, dimples alight with candor. _“Boyfriend, huh?”_

Leo dipped his head shyly before saying _“Well I had to stake claim somehow. That asshole was kissing you,”_ he looked at Kun inquiringly.

 _“David is harmless and well he was drunk,”_ he laughed.

 _“Really? How many other ‘harmless’ drunks are allowed to kiss you…just so I’m forewarned,”_ Leo was on edge.

“ _Well I can think of one. Although I find it hard to classify you as harmless,”_ Kun laughed lightly pecking Leo’s nose.

 _“I’m not kidding Kun. You and Silva…was there something there?”_ Leo asked, mouth tight, jaw clamped, hands trembling apprehensively.

 _“Are you kidding? Do you know how fucking long I’ve been waiting for you to wake the fuck up and kiss me, why would I bother with Silva?!”_ Kun strung out exasperated.

 _“You’ve been waiting?! Well why didn’t you say anything…or do anything? I’ve been waiting for 12 bloody years for you to make a move,”_ Leo was exhausted. _“How could I make a move? You’re bloody Lionel Messi,”_ Kun was about to explain how that had come out wrong when he felt Leo stiffen and climb down off him suddenly dejected and upset.

 _“Since when does that matter to you! You’re supposed to be the only one who doesn’t care…you, I…,”_ Leo was panicking.

 _“No, you idiot. I mean…I couldn’t make a move because…well, sometimes it feels like the entire world has a piece of you. Not just me. Like I would always have to share you with the rest of the world. And so, don’t you see, you had to choose,”_ Kun whispered, his breath grazing the back of Leo’s neck. Leo turned around and looked straight into Kun’s eyes and his face took Kun’s breath away. It was the sort of look he focused on a ball when he was trying to weave through 4 defenders. Like nothing else in the world was worth his attention in that moment. Kun buckled a little under the weight of that gaze. Finally, finally directed at him.

Leo placed his hands on both sides of Kun’s face and leaned close. _“I love you Kun,”_ he said and it was both a promise and prayer.

“ _I love you too, boludo,”_ Kun smiled and grasped Leo’s hands tightly only to see the pale man wince slightly. He shifted back a little to look at Leo’ swollen left hand, the knuckles bruised, one of them bleeding.

 _“What happened here?”_ Kun raised his worried eyebrow.

 _“I sort of…broke Cesc’s nose today,”_ Leo answered stoically.

 _“Really?,”_ he asked as casually as if Leo had just told him he'd ordered Sarpino's pizza instead of Ginos. Kun smiled to himself while heading to the kitchen to grab an ice pack as Leo followed him in.

 _“It’s sort of a long story but he was…”_ Leo said while bolstering himself on to the Kitchen island as Kun pressed the ice pack to this hand.

 _“You know what, Leo?”_ Kun whispered.

 _“What?”_ Leo whispered back as Kun leaned in between his legs…so close.

 _“I really don’t want to talk about Cesc Fabregas right now,”_ he whispered against Leo’s lips, his hands creeping up Leo’s thighs to the waistband button of his jeans which he popped open. Leo’s breathing quickened and he leaned in closer for Kun’s support.

 _“What do you want to talk about?”_ he whispered into Kun’s ear, his left hand snaking down Kun’s back into the waistband of his shorts.

 _“Honestly. I’d rather we didn’t talk at all,”_ Kun said.

 

Leaning into the first of many, many kisses.


End file.
